How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

Amazon and Apple were among nearly 30 U.S. companies, including a major bank, that was compromised by a Chinese intelligence hardware hacking scheme, according to a Bloomberg report.

The companies and organizations were compromised through a maneuver of installing extra components onto computer chips that the groups had purchased while they were still at the factory being manufactured.

Both Apple and Amazon have denied the report, saying that their systems were not compromised by hacks.

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This sounds like a mega event in the security scene that would, if confirmed, ripple through the ages as one of the most devastating attacks ever launched. What are the implications? The world of today cannot simply untie itself from the Chinese supply chain.

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This reminds me of the case with Huawei phones. The USA banned them from being sold in the USA - even tho being sold in over 160 countries. Not to mention they are incredible phones that will compete handsomely against Samsung and Apple.

Apparently - according to the Department of Defense - they are a national security risk. Ya sure. "US government officials have said that China could order its manufacturers to create backdoors for spying in their devices, although both Huawei and ZTE have denied the possibility."

Of course they deny it, otherwise it would be a PR nightmare and it would undermine their image of privacy and security. And there's absolutely no way that someone inside Supermicro didn't know about this. You can't just throw down a random chip on a motherboard with these kinds of capabilities without making other changes to the motherboard.

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Not to mention they are incredible phones that will compete handsomely against Samsung and Apple.

Samsung is manufactured in South Korea and Apple is manufactured in...........China! So they can be trusted ! I know, Samsung/South Korea are staunch allies, but. And Apple is U.S. based, but the product is manufactured in China, so....

I think you meant YUGE. Maybe this is not the appropriate takeaway, but someone can make microchips the size of a sharpened pencil lead but not high speed wifi for my house??? I'm inviting China's military over for dinner. Hopefully they can free up some time after their whole world domination thing.

Very serious indeed. Tariffs may end up being the least of China's worries.

I've had this thought rolling around in my cavernous head for some time, and I guess now is a good time to let it ooze out: It does bother me that Trump has effectively made himself the boy that cried wolf. They mentioned in the linked article that he brought up this hacking during his speech at the UN and nobody took it seriously (I was skeptical myself). As is the norm with our POTUS, he needs to be at least a tad more careful with his fake news narrative or at least appoint a person on his staff to lend specifics to his tweets and comments. At least then we would know when he was being sarcastic and when he was alluding to factual issues. An interpreter, if you will.

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And now you all know the real reason for the US trade war with China. Apparently, US intelligence knew about these chips way back in November 2017. They were alerted to the problem when the Navy ships kept mysteriously crashing into stuff:

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Very serious indeed. Tariffs may end up being the least of China's worries.

I've had this thought rolling around in my cavernous head for some time, and I guess now is a good time to let it ooze out: It does bother me that Trump has effectively made himself the boy that cried wolf. They mentioned in the linked article that he brought up this hacking during his speech at the UN and nobody took it seriously (I was skeptical myself). As is the norm with our POTUS, he needs to be at least a tad more careful with his fake news narrative or at least appoint a person on his staff to lend specifics to his tweets and comments. At least then we would know when he was being sarcastic and when he was alluding to factual issues. An interpreter, if you will.

I Agree Dan, the boy who cried wolf. However, I think we have to take it the way it comes,,, take the bad with the good. Without his direct line of communicating to the population, President Trump likely would have succumbed to MSM, and the swamp that is D.C. Without his own bullhorn we would have been left with what others wanted us to know. He get's it wrong sometimes, and this makes it harder to tell when he's bluffing. A translator would simply place the middleman back into the mix that leads me to doubt the message. Yes, it's Trump's middleman, but still... not the same, and the communication would not be the same.

And as a concession,,, the whole world is getting to know his M.O.

...I always enjoy watching a rookie pitcher in the big leagues make a seasoned hitter look the fool. It's the way it is, the pitcher holds the advantage in this duel. That's why success for a hitter 1 out of three times, or a .333 batting average gets them into the hall of fame. Anyways, once the batter has seen the pitcher a few times, he learns his pitches, how and when he uses them, and how to react. The world has seen our pitcher a few time now. He'll need to up his game to maintain the rally, and I personally think he can do it.

A Hong Kong newspaper has cited an anonymous source saying the president of Interpol was taken away for questioning by "discipline authorities," a term that usually describes investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe graft and political disloyalty.

The South China Morning Post reported Friday that Meng Hongwei was placed under investigation in his native China as soon as he arrived in the country last week.

An Interpol spokesman says the international law enforcement agency is aware of the Post's story, but would not comment on it or say if Chinese authorities had detained the 64-year-old Meng.

Meng's wife says she has not heard from him since he left Lyon, France, where Interpol is headquartered, at the end of September.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party's secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Meng and could not be reached for comment.

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The Chinese president of Interpol has been reported missing after he traveled to his native country at the end of September, a French judicial official said Friday.

Meng Hongwei's wife reported Friday that she had not heard from her 64-year-old husband since he left Lyon, France, where Interpol is based, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of an ongoing investigation.

The French official said Meng did arrive in China. There was no further word on Meng's schedule in China or what prompted his wife to wait until now to report his absence.

Meng, who has been president of Interpol for two years, still holds the post of vice minister for public security, according to the ministry's website.

In a statement, Interpol said it was aware of reports about Meng's disappearance and added "this is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China." The statement noted that Interpol's secretary general, and not its president, is responsible for the international police agency's operations.

News of the investigation into Meng's disappearance came during a weeklong public holiday in China. In Beijing, the foreign and public security ministries did not immediately respond to calls and faxed requests for comment Friday.

Meng was elected president of Interpol in November 2016. His term runs until 2020.

He has held a variety of positions within China's security establishment, including as a vice minister of public security — the national police force — since 2004. In the meantime, he served as head and deputy head of branches of the coast guard, all while holding positions at Interpol.

Meng's duties in China would have put him in close proximity to former leaders, some of whom had fallen afoul of President Xi Jinping's sweeping crackdown on corruption. In particular, Meng likely dealt extensively with former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who is now serving a life sentence for corruption.

Xi has also placed a premium on obtaining the return of officials and businesspeople accused of fraud and corruption from abroad, making Meng's position all the more sensitive.

When Meng was elected in 2016 as Interpol president, rights groups expressed concern that he would pursue an agenda of politicized policing that targeted Xi's opponents.

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Very serious indeed. Tariffs may end up being the least of China's worries.

I've had this thought rolling around in my cavernous head for some time, and I guess now is a good time to let it ooze out: It does bother me that Trump has effectively made himself the boy that cried wolf. They mentioned in the linked article that he brought up this hacking during his speech at the UN and nobody took it seriously (I was skeptical myself). As is the norm with our POTUS, he needs to be at least a tad more careful with his fake news narrative or at least appoint a person on his staff to lend specifics to his tweets and comments. At least then we would know when he was being sarcastic and when he was alluding to factual issues. An interpreter, if you will.

We have had our China's Tariff discussion under another topic, and we know how well that is going for China!